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Phuket child protection agency seeks donations
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center is accepting donations of second-hand goods to sell as part of its ‘Share our love with Children’ charity project set to take place at the annual Red Cross Fair over the New Year’s holiday period this year. The 2009 Red Cross Fair will take place at Saphan Hin for 10 days,…
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Belgian beauties bound for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Twenty Belgian beauties will touch down in Phuket on Monday as part of eight days of activities in the run up to the 2010 Miss Belgium pageant. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 office director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon said the activities will include beach tours, photo and video shoots, kayaking in Phang Nga Bay, Thai cooking classes,…
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Chalong – Patong road ‘coming soon’
PHUKET CITY: A new road linking Chalong and Patong will reduce accidents, save fuel and result in the destruction of fewer trees than detractors believe, the Phuket governor said on Monday. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop was addressing a meeting at Provincial Hall to discuss progress on the controversial project, a key part of his plan to improve Phuket’s road network.…
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British man dies in Rawai
PHUKET CITY: A 52-year-old British man was found dead in his rented home in Rawai earlier today.Chalong Police Duty Officer Tienchai Duangsuwan was informed of the death by the man’s Thai girlfriend at 3:30am.The couple shared a rented home on Soi Kok Mar in Rawai.They moved into the dwelling about one week ago.The woman told police the man had earlier…
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Phuket FC tryout rescheduled
AO MAKHAM, PHUKET: Open trials for Phuket FC soccer team have been postponed two days until November 14. The trial will now take place at the FIFA Tsunami Memorial Center at Ao Makham this Saturday from 4pm to 6pm. Phuket FC are looking to bolster the squad ahead of the 2010 season. Several players, including Thai premiership veterans, have contacted…
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Hainan delegation tours Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Representatives from the Chinese province of Hainan paid a visit to Phuket as part of a three-day study tour examining tourism management and development strategies. The Hainanese delegation held talks with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, Vice Governor Smith Palawatwichai and other officials at Provincial Hall yesterday afternoon. It was the final day of their three-day stay in Phuket,…
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More trouble at Panason City in Phuket
WICHIT, PHUKET: Problems continue at the troubled Panason City housing project, with workmen this morning allegedly trying to bury seven houses under mounds of earth using three excavators, according to residents of nearby Ketkaew village. Four of the houses were still occupied, 50-year-old local woman Yaowaluck Promsiri said. The incident caused outrage among local residents, 30 of whom are understood…
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Pa Khlok man named Phuket’s ‘Outstanding Citizen’
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: A 47-year-old Muslim man with no education past high school has won top honors for Phuket in a nationwide search for the most outstanding citizen in each Thai province. Jeerasak Torthip was named an ‘Outstanding Citizen’ for his work in securing a simple, sustainable way of life for the people of Bang Rong Village, a coastal community…
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Road to encroachment divides Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Villagers and local officials are at odds over whether a new road in Mai Khao caused the destruction of 25 rai of peat swamp forest – or stopped the encroachment from being much worse. Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organization built the 28-million-baht road, which is 3.5 kilometers long and skirts the boundary of Jik Forest. Mai Khao…
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Americans cash in on Phuket volleyball win
KARON, PHUKET: With a masterful performance, the American pair of Jen Kessy and April Ross captured their second-straight Phuket Thailand Open title on Karon Beach yesterday, walking off the sand with the winners’ check of US$30,000.The top-seeded Kessy and Ross finished their four days of competition by downing compatriots Angie Akers and Tyra Turner with clinical precision in the 37-minute…
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All-American volleyball final in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: The US teams of Jen Kessy/April Ross and Angie Akers/Tyra Turner will square off in the championship match of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open this afternoon. The top two-seeded teams scored semi-final victories yesterday afternoon to advance to the ‘final four’ of the final women’s event on the 2009 world tour. The third-place final will see another US…
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Phuket convention center “a certainty’: DPM Korbsak
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Phuket’s decades-old dream of having an international-class convention and exhibition center took another turn yesterday, when Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu toured the proposed project site in Mai Khao and suggested a number of changes to the latest plan. Mr Korbsak, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, reaffirmed that Cabinet has approved 2.6 billion baht…
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Shooting murder in Phuket flower shop
CHALONG, PHUKET: A middle-aged man found shot to death in a Chalong flower shop early this morning is thought to be the victim of a jealousy-inspired murder. Police identified the victim as 38-year-old Surat Thani resident Weerathep Kamchan. Chalong Police received a report of the shooting at about 4:30am from the victim’s alleged mistress, 36-year-old Boonruen Buasi. Investigators including Chalong…
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MV Doulos Phuket visit cancelled
PHUKET: It has been announced that the ‘library ship’ MV Doulos has cancelled her visit to Phuket. MV Doulos was due to port in Phuket from November 19 to 26. However, planned maintenance and repairs on the ship, currently berthed in Singapore, have run into unexpected delays. The advance preparation team regret the delay and apologizes for any inconveniences caused.…
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Favorite teams drop like flies in Phuket Thailand Open volleyball tourney
KARON, PHUKET: After the posting of the seeds for this week’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in Karon, pundits figured that the gold medal participants at last week’s international stop in China would face each other in the third-round of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open. Instead, only one of the final two teams advanced as expected, as Switzerland’s Simone Kuhn…
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New Phuket TAT office chief to sell Phuket’s international side
PHUKET: With the possible exception of Bangkok, Phuket is the most ‘international’ of Thailand’s 76 provinces. A ride past the bustling eateries that line Patong’s Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road will confirm it: there are people from every corner of the globe living and working here. It’s this angle that new Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 Office chief…
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Phuket Open: All Thai teams out
KARON, PHUKET: All five Thai teams in the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open volleyball tournament have been eliminated from competition. Defending Phuket Thailand Open champions Jen Kessy-Boss and April Ross of the US opened defense of their title by defeating 32nd seeds Julaluk Radarong and Manerat Udomchavee of Thailand 21-15 and 21-13 today. More bad news for the Thais came when…
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Woman arrested for Phuket FantaSea jewel heist
PHUKET CITY: After analyzing DNA evidence, police on Monday arrested a cashier at Phuket FantaSea for the theft of more than two million baht’s worth of diamond jewelry from the souvenir shop safe in May. Police said a sample of 26-year-old Khuanrue-thai Chartnarong’s hair matched those found near the safe shortly after the robbery, which took place at Phuket FantaSea…
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Software police target Phuket businesses
PHUKET: As part of a nationwide investigation, Phuket businesses are being investigated closely by police for using illegal computer software. A Gazette source said a ‘high profile’ property investment firm was raided earlier this week. Police are said to have seized hardware and software, all allegedly unlicensed. The company was given a million baht fine, the source said. Following news…
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Beeswax boost for beef bayonet
LAMPANG: Youths in the North have found a dangerous new way to impress the ladies: a home-made penis enlargement therapy using beeswax. The new trend came to light when a 21-year-old unnamed man checked into hospital at the end of October with a badly infected member. The man sheepishly told doctors that he had injected his penis with warm beeswax…
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New Swedish Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: A doctor at Bangkok Hospital Phuket is the new go-to man in times of trouble for the Andaman region’s sizable Swedish community. Dr Sompoch Nipakanont, assistant director of Bangkok Hospital Phuket, was formally appointed as the new Swedish honorary consul on Monday. Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Lennard Linner presented a letter of appointment to Dr Sompoch from HM…
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Phuket Police crack down on loan sharks
PHUKET CITY: Police are cracking down on loan sharks who offer desperate people high interest loans, sometimes backed up with the threat of violence against those who fail to pay back their debts. Four men are accused of offering loans with interest above the legally permissible rates. They were paraded before a press conference at Phuket City Police Station yesterday. Phuket…
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Five Phuket teens accused of gang rape
PHUKET CITY: Five teenagers, including two girls, were arrested yesterday for allegedly gang raping a 14-year-old Thai-Japanese girl at a house in Phuket City last week. Police say the two girls held the victim down while the three boys raped her. All five suspects are 14 to16 years of age. Their faces covered with balaclavas, the youths were presented to…
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Phuket FC to hold open trials
AO MAKHAM, PHUKET: In a bid to bolster the squad ahead of the 2010 season, the Phuket FC will hold open players trials on November 12. The trial will take place at the FIFA Tsunami Memorial Center at Ao Makham from 4pm to 6pm. The Sea Dragons finished their maiden season second from the bottom in the Thailand Regional Division…
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Volleyball vixens smashing balls on the beach
KARON, PHUKET: A record number of teams are competing in the 4th Phuket Thailand Open women’s beach volleyball tournament, which began yesterday on Karon Beach. Heading the list of 70 teams competing in the US$190,000 event are April Ross and Jennifer Kessy-Boss, the 2009 Women’s Beach Volleyball World Champions. The US pair, currently ranked third in the world, return to…
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British tourist reported missing, possibly in Phuket
PHUKET: British tourist Jim Leonard Derry, 72, has been reported missing.Mr Derry arrived in Thailand on July 28. His last known address was in Central Road, Pattaya. However, he is known to be a keen fisherman and frequent visitor to Phuket.Anyone with information on Mr Derry’s whereabouts is asked to visit the British Honorary Consulate Office in the Plaza Del…
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Phuket Gov and consuls to talk through problems
PHUKET CITY: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop has agreed to meet with the island’s honorary consuls every three months to discuss problems concerning tourists and expat residents. The move follows a proposal by the German ambassador to Thailand yesterday. German Ambassador Dr Hanns H. Schumacher met with the governor at 2pm at Phuket Provincial Hall. Dr Schumacher was accompanied by German Honorary…
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‘Nong Peach’ top ladyboy at Phuket Rajabhat
RASSADA, PHUKET: Keslingthip ‘Nong Peach’ Rungreungniti took first prize in a beauty pageant among 12 ladyboy university students held at Phuket Rajabhat University last night. The event, now in its second year, was held as part of the school’s Loy Kratong celebrations. Nong Peach, 19, is studying performing arts in the school’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Most of the contestants…
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Phuket City CCTV plan hits a snag
PHUKET CITY: A new project at Phuket City Police Station has the worthy goal of providing disabled people with jobs and a salary. Nine disabled volunteers will work eight hour shifts watching monitors in the station’s CCTV control room, alerting officers when they spot traffic offenses, other crimes or suspicious vehicles. But there’s a snag: the control room is on…
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Wired: CCTV expansion in Cherng Talay
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: A construction company has built a new office for Cherng Talay Traffic Police entirely free of charge. Wasi Construction Company spent 400,000 baht on the new building, which includes a CCTV control room for monitoring the 17 CCTV cameras in tambon Cherng Talay. A second room will be used as a ‘one stop service’ center for the…
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